Crocco Earns 1,000th Win

Fort Lauderdale — Standing inches from the net with the ball coming straight at her, Ingrid Torberntsson knew this gym full of people was counting on her to finish the match.

More importantly, a few feet away, her coach was on the verge of making history if Torberntsson played the ball right.

That's exactly what the sophomore middle blocker did.

As the winning kill landed between a pair of Northeast defenders, Torberntsson's Cardinal Gibbons teammates ran off the court and mobbed their coach, Louise Crocco, who had just won her 1,000th career match with a 25-10, 25-6, 25-16 victory over Northeast on Thursday.

Crocco is the first volleyball coach in Florida history to accomplish the feat. Nationwide, only six other coaches have notched 1,000 wins or more; of them, only two -- Jack Magelssen of Portage Northern (Mich.) and Jodi Manore of Temperance Bedford (Mich.) are active.

Presented with a handful of balloons, a game ball and roses, Crocco barely held back tears as she addressed the gymnasium filled with family, friends, former Cardinal Gibbons players and a dog wearing an "I Love the Redskins" bandana.

"I truly mean it, this is everybody," Crocco said. "This is not something that is accomplished by an individual. It's accomplished by a close knit of family, coaches and players who have even had their kids come back and play for us. We have two generations here tonight, and while those players stop playing volleyball, there are some memories here that will last them forever. That's what they gave me."

Crocco, a former player at Gibbons, was given the task of improving the program once volleyball became a state-sanctioned sport in 1974. The Redskins have been a state power ever since.

In 1975, Cardinal Gibbons won the first of its 17 championships. The Redskins still hold the record for the most consecutive appearances (29) in state tournament history.

For the first two games of the match Thursday, the Redskins showed much of the dominance they have trademarked under Crocco's leadership. In the third set though, it seemed the emotion was catching up with the Redskins.

With Cardinal Gibbons (3-0) leading 11-10, Northeast's Ana Clara Leitao had a well-placed ace to tie the game. Seconds later, her service point gave the Hurricanes (0-3) a 12-11 lead. That lead grew to 15-14 on consecutive points by Maria Sader, forcing Crocco to call a time-out and pull her players off the court.

"I think we lost our focus out there and we knew we had to step up as a team and put the game away," Gibbons outside hitter Katie Donofrio said. "I think we were a little anxious to see what was going to happen at the end. It was awesome to have so many people here."

After the timeout, the Redskins notched six consecutive service points. Kelly Ring's ace made it 18-15 and from there, it was a matter of time before the Redskins sealed the victory for Crocco.

Once Gibbons reached match point, fans stood and clapped as the point was played. Then came Torberntsson's kill.

"I just kept praying I would put it down so we could get the 1,000th win for her," Torberntsson said. "We just went in there and we were thinking of Coach Crocco the whole time."

Christy Cabrera can be reached at ccabrera@sun-sentinel.com.

GRAND ACHIEVEMENT

Louise Crocco of Cardinal Gibbons became the seventh high school volleyball coach to win 1000 games following her teams' 25-10, 25-6, 25-16 victory over Northeast on Thursday.